Burning Lies
by Rheehemoth
Summary: Lyanna is an information broker who works for the legendary Pirate Captain, Whitebeard. She comes aboard the Moby Dick to visit her old friends, and gets along very well with a certain Fire Fist Ace. Their friendship and bond increases over the duration of her stay, but will she decide to stay aboard the Moby Dick?
1. Embers

**Chapter 1 - Embers**

It was a warm day, and a slight breeze was blowing through her hair as she walked through the town. As the familiar ship came into sight, she grinned, chuckling happily to herself. Once she got closer, she could hear the sounds of the crew, a few voices standing out that she recognised. Though she couldn't hear a certain man's iconic laugh yet. The dock was long, making room for the huge ship.

The Moby Dick, legendary ship of the Whitebeard pirates, was close enough for her to almost touch now, as she strolled down to the small bridge linking the dock to the huge vessel. A few of the crew loading supplies greeted her, and a couple didn't recognise her at all. She strolled onto the ship and took in the people around her. There was new faces, but most were familiar.

"Lyanna?" A deep, gruff voice sounded from her right, and she turned to see the gigantic Third Division Commander, Diamond Jozu.

"Jozu." Her voice was low and serious. "How many times do I need to tell you?" Abruptly she grinned happily and ran over to him. "That you must always greet me with a hug!"

He laughed, realising that she was messing with him and pulled her into his massive arms. "It's so good to see you!"

"And you. I've missed you guys. This is always the best time of year." She could barely get her arms around even half of him, but she was too happy to care.

They both pulled back, smiling happily. Lyanna usually visited once a year, and she had missed her friends aboard the Moby Dick. Everyone had changed too, some a little, some a lot and some barely at all. Jozu had barely changed. But there was a few more that she desperately wanted to see. Izo laid eyes on her and she waved to him cheerfully. Vista tipped his hat along with a bow and she did a unladylike curtesy in return, which made him grin at her.

"Where is he?" She asked Jozu referring to her closest friend aboard this ship.

"Last I saw, he was above." Jozu pointed to the crow's nest atop the mast and she looked up.

She saw his ridiculous mop of blond hair and purple shirt, recognising him instantly, even when he was so high up with his back to her. With a laugh, she dropped her backpack, shifted her weight and took a deep breath in.

"Marco!" She yelled loudly, so loudly that the whole ship looked straight at her, some saw her and laughed and those who didn't were told the story by those who knew.

He leant over the edge and froze for a moment before he yelled back. "Lyanna!" She heard him laughing as he hopped over the edge of the crow's nest.

Her blue-grey eyes went wide as she recognised his transformation. Bright blue flames emerged from his body and she put her hands up in defence.

"No, no, no! Marco, stop!" Her voice was firm, but she had already accepted her fate. She wouldn't be able to move out of the way in time, or she would risk making things worse.

So instead, she was tackled by her friend and fell against the wooden deck with a heavy thud. He was laughing and sounded so happy, but she couldn't laugh with him because she was certain that the wound on her back had reopened and had to bite back the pain. He sat up and saw her strained expression and it was just long enough for her counter attack. Her right arm swung in a hook which hit him in the jaw. She pushed him off her and tried to sit up, but failed.

"That fucking hurt, Marco!"

He laughed as he rubbed his jaw that would have already begun to bruise if he wasn't a Mythical Zoan. She had always hit hard, and that had not changed. Lyanna certainly hadn't grown taller either, she had stopped growing once she hit about 5"1'. She was wearing a pair of flat, ankle-high, black boots, with spikes on the heel. They were her favourite. Her cropped navy pants were accented by her pistol and dagger holsters, and her loose black singlet revealed the corner of her tattoo on her shoulder. Her face had thinned out a little, a sign of her being incredibly fit, and it was reinforced by the appearance of lean, toned muscle on her legs and arms. The rest of her body was more shapely than last he saw her too. She had clearly become a woman. Her deep brown hair was much longer, and reached the small of her back, even in its braid. Long lashes framed her blue-grey eyes and they stared frustratedly at the sky from her position on her back.

Again, she tried to get up, not realising that her old friend was staring at her, noticing the things about her that had changed. A hand came in front of her face, and she took it carefully. The person helped her up and once she stood, she looked them up and down. It was someone she didn't recognise at first.

At least, six feet tall, he had impressive musculature that threatened to catch her eye for longer than was appropriate. If she threw caution to the wind, she knew she would enjoy running her hands over his form. He wore a large red-beaded necklace and she briefly noticed his tattoo, but didn't linger on it, recognising him immediately just from that image.

His face was much more handsome than she expected, and he was probably a year or so older than her. His freckles made him look younger again, but it was his surprisingly polite smile that took her off guard most of all. It wasn't the expression she expected to see on his face.

"Nice to meet you…" he was waiting for her to answer him and tell him her name.

As quickly as she could, she snapped out of her trance and answered. "Lyanna...You are Fire Fist Ace, aren't you?"

"You know me?" His boyish grin almost rendered her speechless, but Marco answered the question for her.

"It's her job to know things, Ace. She's our main source for what's happening on the Grand Line." He put his arm around the smaller girl's shoulders and smirked.

"Ahh, so she is the old friend you've mentioned." Ace smiled with his crew mate as Marco nodded.

Someone called out to the First Division Commander so he lightly punched Lyanna on the arm and walked away, leaving her shaking her head at him. Once he had left, she slumped a little, still feeling the pain from the earlier impact. Trying to make sure no one saw, she carefully put her hand up the back of her shirt, just enough to touch the wound. It felt wet, and she knew that it was bleeding again. Swearing under her breath, she didn't notice Ace's eyes on her, drawn by her sudden change in demeanour. When she withdrew her hand and brushed it against her clothes, he saw a brief flash of red on it and wasn't sure if it was blood. Before he could ask her if she was okay, Thatch appeared to greet her.

"My dearest Lyanna. How I've missed you! You are as beautiful as ever!" He hugged her and she returned it, but didn't let him linger, knowing that if she didn't pull away, he would try to pick her up and run away with her. It had happened before.

"Thatch. It's good to see you. You look well." She smiled as she pulled back, purposely stepping back out of his reach as well. The glint in his eye faded, and she knew she had foiled his plan.

"So, are you here to finally accept my proposal?" He clapped his hands together and shifted his weight onto his toes in anticipation.

Her laugh was as sardonic as it could get, "Hah! I've turned you down for the last 2 years. Did you think I would change my mind?"

"The saying goes 'third time's the charm'. I figured it couldn't hurt to try." He shrugged and chuckled, clearly not bothered by the rejection. It was a old, inside joke of theirs, but Lyanna knew that if she actually agreed, he probably wouldn't know what to do with himself. She doubted he had even thought that far ahead.

"You're lucky Marco is out of earshot then. He threatened to kill you the first time you asked, and I think his threat still stands." Lyanna smirked mischievously and felt eyes on her.

She looked to Ace, who had a strange expression on his face, but only for a second. He quickly grinned at her, and adjusted his hat before wandering off as other crew members came over to greet her.

After the rest of the crew said hello, and she was introduced to a few new members, Marco came back to get her.

"He's ready for you." They walked together, his arm over her shoulder and hers around his waist until they got into their destination.

The legendary pirate Captain, Edward 'Whitebeard' Newgate, was seated at a table in his quarters, and she gave him a beaming smile as his eyes fell on her. His usual laugh sounded out in the room, and her arm fell away from around Marco as she ran towards him full pelt.

"Old man!" Her tone was the happiest she had recognised it to be in a year. She was so glad to see him.

Leaping up, she landed in his lap and put her arms around him. His massive hand came to rest on her back and head as she returned her embrace while he laughed happily. She teared up a little as she held onto him, feeling absolutely great now that she had seen him.

"How are you, my daughter?" His voice boomed and he pulled back so he could look at her.

"Better now that I'm here. I never get a good night's sleep anywhere else. I never feel as safe as I do here." She smiled up at him, craning her neck back to make eye contact with the Pirate Captain.

"I'm glad that you are here too." He smiled warmly and she hopped down, ready to get down to business.

Marco took that as a sign for him to leave but said he would bring them both something to eat shortly. Whitebeard thanked him kindly and nodded for him to leave. Lyanna climbed onto the huge table and examined the maps and charts he had laid out. Then they began their discussion.

Every year when Lyanna visited, she would inform him of the state of all of the settlements that were under his protection. Lyanna was an information broker and it was her job to know everything that happened in the world. The more she knew, the more money she made. She never charged Whitebeard for her service as he was an old friend and someone who had done a lot for her in her life. She had almost joined his crew at one point but decided against it, knowing that she was better off working alone. In regards to combat, she could hold her own but the Whitebeard pirates were on a whole other level. She didn't want to have everyone protecting her either. Also, her abilities made her perfect for the job.

The discussion took a bit over 2 hours and she made sure she informed him of all of the changes in the settlements, which included the death of Mayor Daron from one of the villages. He had been ill for a long time and was an old friend of Whitebeard, so it was sad news. She had attended the funeral in Whitebeard's place and offered condolences on his behalf. When they were done she left the Captain to rest knowing that every year she saw him he was getting weaker and weaker. Every time she noticed his health declining, even slightly, it made her heart ache.

She went out to see Marco, and found him playing cards with a few of his fellow commanders. he dealt her in for the next round and they played a few hands each, a couple of which she won. Lyanna had a good poker face and knew how to use it. Ace was sitting behind her snoring lightly and she asked the men if he normally slept like that. They laughed and told her that he had a narcolepsy problem and would quite frequently fall asleep at random times. She chuckled and watched his peaceful sleeping face for a moment before turning away. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought he was dead.

After a few more rounds, they went to bed and Lyanna managed to get out of accepting Thatch's offer to stay with him for the night, even though she knew he was harmless. Instead, she was offered a bed in the crew's quarters. She hadn't told anyone, but she hadn't slept in three days now, and her wound was beginning to take it's toll. Especially since she had reopened it earlier today. It wasn't a good idea, but she had been too excited to rest as soon as she arrived. As she stood up, she felt dizzy and fell back down immediately.

Someone caught her before she cracked her skull open on the deck, and she heard Marco's voice call her name in alarm. She swore at herself for being so weak and careless, and felt Marco pick her up and carry her somewhere in the ship. She couldn't tell where they were going because her head was spinning like crazy and she just tried to stay conscious.

Marco placed her down carefully on a bed, and she heard the ship's doctor tell him to roll her over after seeing the spotted blood on his arms from carrying her. They lifted her singlet and saw a large, sword wound that almost spanned her entire back. It had been seeping blood for the last few hours, and she hadn't noticed the effects until she tried to stand up.

Blond hair came into her line of sight, and once she focused her vision, she knew it was Marco kneeling in front of the bed.

"What the fuck happened, Lyanna? That is a massive cut. You don't get hit like that...ever." his voice was quiet and concerned for his old friend as he brushed some hair from her face.

"I was protecting someone." she said cryptically and got a sigh from Marco in response. She was always stubborn like this.

He nodded, but wasn't happy. "Why didn't you come to us sooner and get treated? We've been here for a week now waiting to meet with you. We were going to send men to look for you soon." she stayed quiet and raised an eyebrow at him, and he understood. "This is why you were late and couldn't come sooner." he exhaled slowly in a concerned sigh.

Another voice sounded from her left, and she turned to see Ace speaking. "Who was it?" his face was surprisingly serious, very different from the cheery expressions she had seen earlier.

"Just rookie pirates wanting information for free. They grabbed a young kid to try and, uh...change my mind." she answered him evenly, but her eyes were dark with anger.

"You protected the kid?" Marco asked, and she nodded once in confirmation.

"Guys, she'll be fine, but you are going to need to leave so I can patch her up." the doctor's voice was firm, and the few crew members began to disperse. "Get some rest, Lyanna. You clearly need it."

That was all the encouragement she needed to fall into a deep, but fitful sleep...


	2. Sparks

**Firstly, I just want to thank the wonderful users who favourited or followed this within hours of me posting it.  
And thank you to my anonymous reviewer! I'm glad that you are enjoying the story so far.**

 **I will be updating weekly!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2 - Sparks**

The next morning, Lyanna woke to the feeling of someone brushing their hand on her hair. She flinched in fright, and looked up to see the old man kneeling next to her bed. He smiled when he saw that she was awake and laughed his usual laugh. Immediately, she relaxed and let go of the breath she was holding.

"Are you alright?" He asked softly and spoke again after she nodded. "You should have gotten patched up before we talked yesterday." he scolded her in the softest voice possible, but she knew that he was right.

"Yeah, I know. But I didn't want to keep you waiting, especially because of Daron passing away. There's been so much going on." she shrugged as much as she could whilst laying on her stomach and he smiled at her again.

"Marco's been worried."

"Ugh, he would worry if I had a papercut." though she rolled her eyes, she was glad that she had people who cared about her.

"That," he pointed to her exposed back with her now stitched up wound, "is no papercut."

"I know." she said exasperatedly, taking his scolding as best she could. "Marco told you what happened?" the old man nodded in confirmation, and didn't ask any questions.

"Come and get some water and something to eat. I'm sure you need it."

He helped her up, making sure she took it slow, and they went above deck where everyone was eating lunch. It seemed she had slept longer than she thought, but obviously she needed it. Marco ran over to her, a grin on his face. Quickly, he looked her over, making doubly sure that she was on the mend and he chuckled once he noticed her blank look.

"I'm fine, Marco. Just needed some rest."

"And some food." he handed her a plate and she grabbed herself a few things, and listened to her stomach grumble as she sat down to eat.

Thatch sat down next to her and made idle conversation for a minute before Ace joined them. He greeted her politely and chatted with them while they all ate. They begged her to tell them the story of her protecting the kid against the pirates and after several minutes of pestering, she gave in.

"Fine, shut up and listen then." she rolled her eyes when she noticed that she had an audience. Her battle stories were never that impressive, so she didn't know why they were so interested. "So the last island I was on was just a little village with lots of farmland surrounding it. These rookies pirates made port and tried swindling the villagers out of their crop for free, under threat of violence. Unfortunately for them, I was standing just nearby and pointed out the flag," she pointed to the mast that held the Whitebeard flag, "and suggested that they pay the people what they were owed since they were under the old man's protection."

"They got shitty but paid up, but they decided to annoy me instead." she shrugged and Marco chuckled, knowing that annoying Lyanna was a bad idea. "One of them pointed out that I clearly wasn't a farmer and asked me what I was doing there. I told them that I'm an information broker and I was waiting to meet up with a contact."

"Why did you tell them the truth?" Ace piped up, with an eyebrow raised in question.

"Most of the people that pay me for information already know me, but I can usually con rookies into paying me too. I tell them Navy patrol routes and what not to keep them happy." he nodded in understanding, and she continued. "Then they decided that since I told them to pay for the food, that I should give them information for free, to which I responded by laughing in their face and telling them to fuck off."

Marco, Thatch and a number of others laughed at her crass language, and she smirked too, glad that they were getting a kick out of her story.

"After arguing with me, they grabbed a kid trying to get past with his mother, and held a sword against him, telling me that if I don't give them information, that they would kill him. Basically I just ran over, punched the guy in the face, but the one behind him was already swinging his sword and I had to get in the way so it wouldn't hit the kid." A few eyes in the crowd went wide, but she continued with the same nonchalant tone as before.

"I told the kid and the mother to run, and I sorted out the rest of the pirates and-"

"What did you do to them?" Thatch interrupted her to ask and

"Yeah, we need details!" Haruta echoed and Lyanna huffed at their need to know exactly _how_ she beat them up.

"There was four of them, but the guy I punched was already out cold. I kicked the sword guy in the face, and one of the others shot at me, but missed. The last one rushed me, and I parried his sword with my dagger and cut him here," she gestured to the junction where her neck and shoulder met, "and then shot the last guy." Thatch chuckled and she shrugged again with a perfect air of nonchalance.

"I made the guy I kicked walk back to his ship and made them leave the island after they picked up their other crew from where I left them. I reminded them that our old man controlled these waters and they should take care to not cross the wrong people. Then they left."

She got a few cheers and claps, but just sighed and shook her head. It really wasn't that impressive compared to the incredible fights that all of these guys had been in, so she had no idea why they were so excited. None of her stories were even close to being as crazy as something that would happen on board a ship captained by one of the Four Emperors. After the meal, everyone got back to work and she hung out with her old friends and helped out as much as she could around the ship, although barely anyone let her do anything because of her wound. She gave up on helping above deck and went below to help out the cook, and the doctor, who also checked on her wound which was healing nicely.

A few hours after sun went down, Lyanna offered to take up first watch since she had slept so late today and was nowhere near tired. One of the newer members told her that he would relieve her in a few hours and she took a seat at the front of the ship, enjoying the fresh sea breeze in her face. She took out her hair from its braid, as it had started to tug and pull in the wrong places throughout the day, and she needed to redo it. It almost floated behind her in the wind, as she kept an eye on the horizon.

Footsteps from behind her caught her attention, but she felt no alarm. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the Second Division Commander come to sit cross-legged next to her. His hat was slung backwards, hanging on his back, and she watched silently and he took a deep breath in, and slowly let it out. Lyanna just blinked as he turned to her and smiled.

For a brief moment, he just watched her watching him, and they shared in a strange moment of relaxed silence. He looked away first, and stretched his legs out, leaning back on his elbows. He had enjoyed Lyanna's company so far. She had a great sense of humor, and loved listening to all the stories of battles that the Whitebeard Pirates had experienced since she was here last. She was smart, and had no problem joining in on the hard work, though she had to take it easy with her wound still healing. There was no problem with her getting picked on by the guys, because she gave as good as she got. He could appreciate that she didn't expect to get waited on hand and foot, and laughed at her getting frustrated with the guys telling her to do something easier.

Generally, she seemed to be a good person, who was loved by the crew. The old man seemed to have a soft spot for her as well, and she really seemed to enjoy being here on the Moby Dick with everyone. He got the feeling that the rest of her year wasn't that enjoyable for her. She tended to avoid talking about herself and what she had been doing, and not just because of what her job entailed, but it was as if she just didn't have anything to say. If she liked it here, why didn't she stay?

"Your brother is Straw Hat Luffy, right?" she broke the silence first.

"Yep." he grinned happily at the mention of Luffy and she smiled as well at his obvious pride.

"He's getting himself quite a reputation." She watched as he cracked up laughing at her words.

"That sounds like Luffy. Always making me worry, never listening to me, getting himself into trouble." Ace was always happy to talk about his brother, both the good and bad stories.

"How about I keep an ear out for you? I can always pass a message on through my correspondence with the old man."

"You would do that for me?" He asked her with raised eyebrows, surprised at her generosity.

"Of course. I do it for some of the other guys too by checking on their loved ones and old friends." She shrugged nonchalantly.

"Ahh, so you didn't just offer because I'm special?" He laughed and enjoyed her amused smile.

"You? Special?" Her eyes raked over him and she put on a bored expression. "Don't think so."

They shared a laugh before Ace went quiet. It was incredibly nice of her to offer to listen out for anything regarding Luffy and he really appreciated it. Regardless of the amount of great friends and crewmates he had made over the last few years, people being genuinely nice to him still took him by surprise.

"Thanks for that. It's...uhh, really nice of you." He struggled to get the words out, but tried his best to show his gratitude.

"Hah! Marco would laugh in your face if he heard you call me 'nice'." She smirked devilishly to further prove her point.

"Obviously that's just because he knows you better than I do." He replied and she just laughed in return.

They spent several hours talking about random things, which ranged from their favourite food and favourite season all the way to how they kept fit and exercised whilst out at sea. Ace rather enjoyed speaking with someone new, someone who had a different perspective and had new stories to share. Although he loved his crew mates more than anything else in the world, and would happily die for them, he did get sick of them sometimes. He supposed that was probably normal since they rarely got away from each other, unless they spent a couple of days docked at a small town. Even then they usually spent their time in the local bar or tavern, so nothing really changed.

Once he yawned more than three times in a minute, he decided to head off to bed. She would be getting relieved shortly so she could go and get some rest soon too.

He flopped down on his bed and began snoring immediately...


	3. Glow

**Chapter 3 - Glow**

The Moby Dick had made port today to grab supplies. Currently, Marco, Ace and Lyanna were walking to get some ale and rum for everyone. Since that was usually the most expensive stuff, Marco had made sure that Lyanna was along for the trip. She was always the best at bargaining, but Ace wasn't convinced.

"Trust me, she's brilliant. While I may not agree with her methods, I do appreciate her results." Marco told his fellow crewmate while he slung an arm over Lyanna's shoulders, who was walking in the middle of them. She was so short that they only had to look straight over her head at one another. Marco had received a punch in the arm when he pointed this out earlier and Ace had howled with laughter.

"You'll be surprised, Mr. Second Division Commander." Lyanna echoed Marco's praise and put an arm around each of their waists, and they walked through the town laughing together, like they had known each other their whole lives. Ace was very much enjoying himself hanging out with them both. Lyanna and Marco had a great dynamic, and it was easy to join in with them too.

They got to the bar, and headed straight up to speak to the bartender. He was a short, plump man, with a large bushy moustache. He smiled and greeted them on the way in. Marco walked over and leant his forearms on the bar. Lyanna followed while Ace looked around a bit before catching up.

"My good man, we will need 4 barrels of your finest ale, and 1 barrel of your finest rum. Can you help us out?" Marco started off, and Lyanna just took a seat on the bar stool, swinging her legs from side to side as she steadied herself with her elbows on the counter, facing away from the bartender. Ace tried not to laugh at her antics and stood next to her, just far enough away to not get hit by her legs.

"Of course! For my finest ale, it will be 60,000 beli per barrel and 75,000 for a barrel of rum. Shall I fetch them for you?"

"What?! We have never been charged such high prices before!" Marco's outrage was totally legitimate, but Ace could hear the slight amusement in his voice too. He tried not to laugh at their clearly rehearsed show.

"I'm sorry if the prices are too steep, but you can always purchase something of lower quality." The bartender clearly didn't care if they couldn't afford it and didn't seem interested in bartering the price.

"Do you mean the stuff that you water down first thing in the morning before you open?" Lyanna's voice sounded strange to Ace, as it was a very blank, emotionless tone that he hadn't heard from her yet. Usually her voice was soft, but with a melodic lilt to it, so this was very different.

Nonchalantly, she turned around and climbed up on the counter, so that she was on her hands and knees facing the bartender, rear end in the air. The plump man stood in shock as she cupped his face with her left hand and spoke in a low, sultry tone, staring at him with darkened eyes. Ace struggled to hide his surprise but managed to squash it down to a slight widening of his eyes.

"Is that really the best price you can do for us?" she asked him sweetly and Ace could see the man's eyes drop to her chest and back up to her face. Marco was probably ready to choke the man. Lyanna flashed him a smile and he just stared before he finally stuttered out his answer.

"I can do 25,000 on the ale and 28,000 on the rum." He said with a strangely robotic voice, which was equal parts confused and embarrassed, like he couldn't control the words coming out of this mouth.

"Aw, that's much better, thank you. Could you go grab those for me?" she took her hand back, and ran her pointer finger along her bottom lip, just sealing the deal.

The stunned bartender blinked a few times and went out the back to fetch their purchase. Marco was trying hard not to wet himself laughing as Lyanna hopped down from the counter. Ace wouldn't admit it out loud, but he definitely enjoyed watching her clamber down. He was certain that if she looked at and spoke to him like that, he would probably spontaneously combust. Once she landed, she ended up being inches from him and without hesitation, looked up at him and winked so sexily that his cheeks flushed red.

She chuckled and tapped his bicep teasingly, and watched as the bartender brought out their stock, before Marco handed over the money to the still shocked man. He still didn't seem to have any idea what just happened, and it was probably better off that way. The two boys grabbed a barrel under each arm, and Lyanna carried the barrel of rum as they headed back to the ship. They dropped their goods at the dock and then headed back to town.

They needed to grab some food supplies and then they would probably set sail cook had given them a massive list, so it would take them a while. As they went through the marketplace, Lyanna used her Devil Fruit ability to 'haggle' prices and Marco would cough up the money. Since the Whitebeard pirates didn't really have a problem with money, Marco always gave the shop owners a little more than Lyanna bargained them down to, just to ensure they weren't ripping anyone off. They understood that these people were trying to make a living too and for pirates, they were fairly generous.

It was even slower going on the way back with everyone's arms and pockets full, as well as huge backpacks, and all the supplies got loaded onto the ship quickly with everyone's help.

"You work your magic, Lyanna?" Thatch asked as they boarded the ship, and she answered him by giving him a cheeky grin.

"What did I tell you, Ace? She is brilliant." Marco commented off-handedly. "Though every time she touches someone, I get the urge to punch them." his tone changed to an uncharacteristically serious one, but then he laughed as if to cover it up.

Ace just watched quietly, trying to figure out if Marco had feelings for Lyanna. He wasn't entirely sure, since it could have been confused with him just being protective of her. They had known each other for many years, and he probably thought of her as a little sister or something like that.

The black-haired man looked over to where Lyanna was heading below deck, talking with Vista and Izo. She began laughing at something Vista said, and he smiled at the sight. He took a breath and got to work for them to set sail.

###

As darkness fell, Lyanna pestered Marco to let her have his bed for the night. He grumbled and complained but agreed nonetheless. After a few hours later, Marco went to his quarters to sleep on the floor, and she stayed up, never being one to go to bed early. She sat on the ship's railing and enjoyed feeling comfortable and safe. The young woman listened to the sound of the sea, waves lapping against the hull and the sound of the breeze caught in the sails.

Lyanna was lost in her thoughts when she heard someone approach from behind. It wasn't enough to alarm her as she felt safe, but the feeling of a blanket falling upon his shoulders was enough to make her jump. She briefly lost her balance and almost fell forward over the edge, but a strong hand gripped her arm and stopped her from falling. In turn, she grabbed back and held on for dear life, knowing what would have happened if she fell in the water. She had been a great swimmer before she had eaten a Devil Fruit, but those skills wouldn't help her anymore.

She practically jumped back down onto the deck, wanting to feel more steady, then finally looked to see who had helped her. Ace looked back at her, as casual as could be, running a hand through his hair as she huffed faintly.

"Thank you, and thank you," she gestured to the blanket for the second one, with a smile on her face, and his smile was the equivalent of a 'You're welcome'.

"Sorry if I startled you. Do you have a bed for the night?" he asked quietly, just loud enough for her to hear over the sounds of the sea.

"Yeah, I'm just crashing in Marco's quarters." they were silent for a minute as they stared at the reflection of the moon on the water's surface. "Can't sleep?" Lyanna asked politely and watched him nod in answer, but kept his eyes on the water.

"Mmm. Been tossing and turning for a few hours now." he had his arms crossed over his chest, and she took the chance to quickly check him out while he wouldn't notice. She shuddered faintly, as she wasn't used to being in the presence of men who were as attractive as Ace. Her sudden movement made him look, but she just pulled the blanket closer and smiled somewhat awkwardly. "Why are you still up? You should be resting." he summoned flames to his hand and held it closer to her to help warm her up, and she thanked him with a smile.

"Ah, I've never slept very well. Marco knows I'm up and down all night. Usually I sleep through the day when I'm travelling anyway. It's easier for me to move around at night and most of the people I deal with are up late too." she shrugged, because this was perfectly normal for her. Her body clock was never that great either, so she had ended up becoming a bit of a night owl over the last few years.

"What exactly do you do as an information broker?" he asked offhandedly, remembering what the First Division Commander had said as she introduced herself to him.

"Uhh, basically I travel around and sell information about anything and everything. Normally it's things like Navy patrol routes and raids. Pirates pay big money to avoid them. And the Navy pays big money for me to tell them where the pirates are." she huffed again and he smirked, understanding the strange paradox that was.

"What info do you give the old man?" she narrowed her eyes at him, but grinned after a moment.

"Hah. You aren't just a pretty face, are you?" she chuckled and he scratched the back of his head awkwardly, but his smile told her that he enjoyed her compliment. "I keep him updated on the places that are under the protection of the Whitebeard pirates. If they are attacked or something is wrong, I'm the one who lets him know. Then you guys come along and do what you do best." she nodded towards his fire-covered hand, and he smirked in understanding. "The only difference is that I don't charge the old man. He has done enough for me to earn a more than lifetime's worth of gratitude."

Ace nodded, knowing how much the old man had done for him too, though it took a bit for him to be won over. "I know how you feel." his cryptic words intrigued Lyanna and she leaned closer, tempted to use her ability, but decided not to.

"You must have joined just after I left last year. Actually, it's been a bit over a year, I think. May I ask how you joined?"

"That's a long story." he raised an eyebrow, and waited for her to respond.

She mirrored his expression, "Well, I only like long stories with a happy ending, so I think your's will be fine." she gave him her most charming smile, barely resisting the urge to flirt with the attractive Second Division Commander.

He turned away as he laughed, then took a deep breath and began to talk. "So I was with the Spade Pirates and I decided to take on the old man. I failed terribly, and they took me aboard the Moby Dick and just kept me around, no shackles, no ropes, nothing. I stayed so that they wouldn't kill my crew, and I tried to kill him again, and again, and again. And I failed miserably...every single time." Lyanna stared at him with wide eyes as he told his story.

"Basically he kept telling me to join him, and I just saw how happy everyone was to be around him, and how much he cared for his so-called sons. Marco told me about how much they all loved him and I couldn't keep trying to kill him after that. I gave up and joined. Best decision I ever made." he stared at the light on the water again, and the smile he wore expressed how happy he was to be a part of the Whitebeard Pirates. Her stomach felt light as she watched him briefly, before he turned to her. "How did you meet the old man? It seems like you've known him and Marco for a long time."

Lyanna took a breath and kept her eyes forward as she spoke. "I grew up on one of the islands that was under his protection. I was a kid, I didn't even know who he was. He was just someone that the adults mentioned from time to time. Uhh, my town got attacked by bandits and Marco was the one who saved me from getting killed. That's how we met. Once the fighting was over, the old man took me to some relatives on a nearby island since my parents were killed in the attack." She saw Ace's eyes go wide and she knew that he was reacting to her mention of her parents.

"Marco looked after me while we were on the ship. I still remember his stupid mop of blond hair as he told me jokes to try and cheer me up. They were terrible jokes though." she laughed at the memory, though it still hurt a little as well. "When I got to my relatives house, the old man told me that anytime I needed anything, to come and see him. Of course, I thought that was ridiculous since I was a kid and he was a legendary pirate. But when I ate a Devil Fruit and went into business as an information broker, and ran into him again, he really did help me. It's been a bit over 3 years since then."

The young man was staring into space with a furrowed brow, assessing her words carefully. He opened his mouth to speak, but shut it just as fast as Lyanna just waited quietly for him to figure out what he wanted to say.

"So, since you are a Devil Fruit user, when you almost fell overboard before, you could have actually died." he phrased it as a statement, but looked to her to confirm it anyway.

"Mhmm. Thank you again for that. I probably clawed your arm trying to hold onto you." she chuckled awkwardly, hoping that she hadn't torn his arm apart with her fingernails.

He shook his head in dismissal and spoke again. "What are your Devil Fruit powers?"

She smirked, knowing that he would ask at some stage. "It's not the most interesting ability, but it works for what I do. Basically, if I am touching someone, they physically cannot lie. Pretty much useless in a fight up against a Logia such as yourself." she shrugged, and gave her a funny look.

"But you've obviously figured out the best way to use your ability, so it's not useless for you." he explained and uncrossed his arms to gesture towards her.

Lyanna stayed silent for a moment, and just watched him. He looked around awkwardly and finally rose to the bait. "What is it?" she chuckled and he just waited for her to speak.

"You need to stop being so darn sweet." she leant her forearms on the rail and flicked her hair before she looked back at him with a laugh. "At this rate, I'm going to end up falling for you." she continued laughing, but it would be difficult _not_ to fall for a man who was as polite, nice and attractive as Ace.

She couldn't tell in the dim light of the moon and from the orange light of his flames, but she could have sworn that his cheeks went red and his strained laugh just made her laugh more. Instead of lingering, which would just end up being her flirting with him until the sun rose, she decided to head off to bed.

"Anyway, I'm going to get some rest. Marco will probably yell at me for staying up so late." she tried to end the conversation on a funny note, but he still seemed bewildered from her earlier comment, so she wished him goodnight and left him standing there, feeling slightly strange…


	4. Hearth

**Chapter 4 - Hearth**

During lunch the next day, Marco decided to steal from Lyanna's plate. He had known that it was a piece of her favourite fruit, and ate it with a grin while she glared at him with the fires of hell in her blue-grey eyes, and her mouth agape.

"You. Asshole." she growled at him, venom in her voice.

"I like these too! Sharing is caring, Lyanna. There wasn't any left." he said in a scolding tone, but the fury on her face didn't die down in the slightest.

"That's it. Stand up."

Lyanna stood up next to him, watching him as he took his time eating the rest of the fruit. Her rage grew with every bite, and he knew that he was just making it worse on himself, but he was enjoying teasing her far too much to stop. They caught a few eyes, some of the crew waiting to see what would happen. It was known that Lyanna's temper was not something to be trifled with, but only Marco and their Captain could properly anger her without her literally trying to kill them.

Once he stood up, she didn't give him a second before she swung a right hook at his head. He ducked, and his eyes went wide. They gathered more of an audience, who were confused why Marco needed to avoid her punch altogether. His Phoenix ability meant that physical attacks passed straight through him.

"You're using _it_ against me?" Marco questioned as he weaved to avoid another strike, but wasn't fast enough to avoid her spin kick, which hit him cleanly across his jaw. He swore loudly, and Lyanna laughed darkly. There was dotted imprints on his face, which was the reason why she had spikes on the heel of her boots.

"Of course I am! I have to level the playing field somehow. And you ate my food!" she yelled at him, obviously still angry, even after getting in a good hit.

"Alright then, little girl. You're on." Marco set himself in a defensive stance, predicting that she would more than happily make the first move.

Their audience was cheering and whooping loudly, some calling out for Marco, and others for Lyanna. Ace and Thatch were standing next to each other, cracking up laughing at the two friends about to go at it for a few rounds. It was a good way to let off steam and muck around with your fellow crew mates too.

"Bring it, bird boy." Lyanna quipped back with no hesitation, and she vaguely registered a few people laughing at her insult.

They squared off, watching one another carefully. Lyanna did end up making the first move, and she rushed with all her speed at the First Division Commander. She knew that she was no match for him if he was actually being serious, but she could try her best and take the offensive. She also knew that he would never be able to fight seriously against her, which was an advantage for her.

Kicks were definitely her specialty, and she sent a huge, flowing barrage of feet at Marco's head and body, some of which he avoided, some of which he had to block. He was biding his time for his counter attack, though he knew that Lyanna was waiting for him to do it too. She knew very well that people were the most vulnerable when they attacked and she was good at exploiting that weakness too.

After he watched her roundhouse kick come flying at his stomach, instead of block, he grabbed it and swung her around so her back was facing towards him. She realised immediately, and sensed his attack coming. She barely avoided his hook punch to her ribs, and spun back to face him. Now it was his turn to attack, and she knew it would take everything she had not to get wiped out. His attacks were fast, but she could tell he was holding back, and decided that she wanted to push herself more.

Yet another hook punch came towards her, and she grabbed his arm, stepped on his inside and didn't slow her momentum, but instead she used his against him. Once her weight was underneath him, she used her hip as a leverage point, and his arm to flip him onto his back. He landed with a heavy thud, and she quickly took her next position to try and win the fight.

She put one foot next to his head, her heel in his neck to stop him from squirming, and she sat down, still holding onto his arm from earlier. Once she had landed, she pressed her hips up, which began hyper-extending his arm, and the back of her leg was pressing into his throat simultaneously. Hearing him groan in discomfort, she didn't let up until he tapped twice on her leg, signalling that he had given up.

Letting go, she stood up and got out of his reach in case he decided to try something. When he stayed put, breathing heavily and she was satisfied he wasn't going to move, she raised her arms up in a gesture of victory. The crew that was watching cheered and clapped to her win, and she high-fived a few of them as she circled the deck.

Ace strolled over to congratulate her, and put an arm over her shoulder. She may have snuggled closer a little, putting her head against him and taking a few deep breaths. He spoke just loud enough for her to hear.

"You're a Haki user, hmm?" he was grinning as he spoke, impressed by her ability.

She tilted her head up to look at him through her eyelashes. "Hmmm...so what if I am?" she carefully schooled her expression, waiting to figure out where he was going with this conversation.

"You are more skilled with Perception, aren't you?" he replied evenly, watching her closely.

"I am, yes." she looked back ahead of her, seemingly unphased by his questions.

"That's really cool." he chuckled, watching her smile at his compliment.

"How have you not realised by now that I'm awesome?" she made eye contact with him and laughed with him as he adjusted his hat.

Although he tried to be casual, he spun her out from next to him and lazily went to kick her thigh, knowing that she would see it coming. Instead of dodging, she lifted her leg up and pushed forward 'checking' the technique, and jamming it in the process. It caused him to stumble faintly as he recovered. She winked and grinned at him before she spoke.

"You'll have to try harder than that, Fire Fist."

She leapt back out of his reach, and waited calmly for him to respond to her challenge. He lifted his hat up so he could see her fully, and lifted it off his head, placing it down carefully. Drawing out the suspense, he tilted his head to one side, then the other, rolling his shoulders a few times. Once he was done with his warm-up routine, he stood quietly for a moment.

Lyanna barely had enough time to react, but he used her favourite technique, the spin kick, and let loose an arc of flame towards her. It wasn't enough to do much damage, and was more or less to signal the start of their sparring match, but it put her on edge nonetheless. From behind the flames, he rushed at her, fists clenched.

Somehow, she managed to dodge or block most of his attacks, desperately trying to find an opportunity to throw some of her own. She knew that he was incredibly strong, even without his Devil Fruit abilities, but even she was momentarily surprised by the efficacy of his combat style. The only way that she had learnt to fight was use the bigger guys weight against them, but she guessed that he would see that coming since he watched her sparring with Marco. Marco was the one who taught her mostly everything she knew, but her own experience had combined his teachings into her technique.

Ace kept up his offense, and didn't give her a chance to catch a breath. She was still fatigued from sparring with Marco, so he hoped to break her concentration with Haki by tiring her out. Instead, he saw her go the complete opposite way. She grit her teeth, growled and put her head down, rushing forward and tackling him straight to the ground. His eyes went wide and he couldn't react fast enough and landed with a heavy thud.

From there, it was a grappling match on the deck to see who could gain the upper hand. They rolled away and towards each other as they sent backfists and feet flying whilst they were on the ground, attacks colliding with the deck. Using her kicks again, Lyanna managed to land a hit on him by bending herself in half with her right leg, and it collided with the side of his head. Stunning him briefly, she clambered on top of him, trying to get him into a submission hold, but he didn't let her. His physical strength was too much for her, and he managed to roll her onto her stomach, scrambling to get her arm pinned behind her back.

Using her flexibility again, she kicked him in the back, and when he fell forward, she launched the back of her head into his nose. Grunting in pain, she got to her feet faster than she expected but so did he. A thin line of blood dribbled from his nose, but he was no less determined or discouraged. They both breathed heavily and eyed one another carefully for at least half a minute before Lyanna took charge.

Rapid jabs came at him, and he parried all of them fairly easily. They traded attacks and counters for a few minutes more, trying to break through the others defence. After Ace used a straight punch, she broke line and dodged to the side, and grabbed his wrist in the same motion. Her other hand came to the underside of his arm, and she stepped through, pushing it forward, and twisting his wrist in the same direction.

She had almost caught him, but felt that he already knew how to escape it before she could get the armlock on strong enough. It surprised her, when he let his body double over, and instead of stopping, he used the momentum to flip them both straight over on their backs. Landing half on top of him, she had some of the wind knocked out of her, but Ace didn't spare a second to grab hold of her.

His forearm came across her throat, and his legs wrapped around her hips to stop her from escaping his hold. She tried desperately to pull down his arm to get air, but he was just too strong for her. Futile as it was, she struggled for another minute or so before she tapped twice on his arm, signalling her defeat.

He immediately let her go, and flopped his arms and legs down onto the deck. Vaguely, they both heard the crew laughing and cheering at their performance, but were too worn out to care. A moment after, Lyanna rolled over so that they were chest to chest. They shared a tired smile and laughed together for a moment as she laid her head on his chest.

"You're pretty good, Fire Fist Ace." Lyanna complimented him, feeling the rumble of his laugh underneath her.

"You're not too bad yourself. Marco must have been going real easy on you earlier." he replied, just enjoying the feeling of relaxing with her, though their position was rather intimate.

She lifted her head up, and supported herself with her forearm across the side of his stomach. Though she doubted it was intentional, probably just reflexive, she saw his eyes drop to where her breasts were flattened slightly against the much harder plains of his chest. A confident smirk appeared on her face, only to disappear just as quickly.

"He always does. You, however…" he waited silently for her answer and put an arm behind his head so he could look at her better, "are utterly ruthless. I like it." she grinned, and they laughed again.

Deciding to get up, she crawled backwards off him, and stood up before holding out her hand for him. He huffed softly and took it, letting her help him up. They ended up only a few inches from each other and she looked up at him with a slight frown. She shifted closer and lifted a hand up to his face, using her thumb to smear away the blood that had oozed from his nose. When she felt his hands land just above her hips, she didn't externally react, but her mind was screaming.

"It's definitely not broken." she spoke to distract herself from his light touch but his adorably charming, boyish grin appeared and her mind screamed louder again.

"Ah, it would have been a good story even if it was." he replied with a soft but cheery voice, making her smile.

When she stepped back, he reluctantly let his hands fall back to his sides before he leant over to pick up his hat. He placed it back on his head and they shared a laugh again. Lyanna fell into step with him and the crew went back to doing whatever they were before now that the show was over. They walked to the other end of the ship, chatting and enjoying themselves, laughing about their match.

Neither of them realised that Marco's eyes watched them carefully…


	5. Flare

**Chapter 5 - Flare**

Lyanna had been aboard the Moby Dick for one week now, and it had been the most fun she had had in years. She always enjoyed hanging out with Marco, of course. She got along great with Thatch, Jozu, and the other commanders, not to mention the old man himself. But with Ace here, it had been different, in a good way. With him, she felt comfortable, and felt like they were almost like kindred spirits.

They never ran out of things to talk about, but still enjoyed sitting in silence, just listening to the sounds of the sea. Every night, they had stayed up late and talked into the early hours of the morning, and laughed at each other's sleepy faces. If she hadn't known Marco for so long, Lyanna got the feeling that her and Ace would be better friends. Although her attraction to him was another story entirely.

Ace sat down next to her, handing her a mug of the ale she had helped them haggle for. It was probably almost midnight, but neither of them wanted to go to bed just yet. They had talked about so many different things over the last week, but they hadn't run out of topics just yet. He looked over at her just at the right time to see her spill some ale down her front, and cracked up laughing. She sat quietly for a moment, accepting her fate before laughing with him.

It took a few minutes, but the black-haired man thought it was about time to ask her.

"Lyanna?"

"Mmm?"

"Why don't you stay on the Moby Dick if you like it so much?" he asked softly, and laid back, placing his arms underneath his head. She leant back on her hands and stared up at the night sky for a moment before she answered him.

"Well, you know what I do. The most important part of my job, aside from staying alive, is keeping tabs on the places that are under the protection of the Whitebeard pirates. I'm the person who tells the old man if something is wrong or if they've been attacked. So if I stay here, I can't do that." she turned her head to look over her shoulder at him, but he didn't feel satisfied with her answer.

"The old man could always find someone else to do it. You just don't seem like you enjoy your life very much." he realised that his words might have been a bit harsh and hoped that he hadn't upset her.

She turned back to look ahead of them, and took a few purposely controlled breaths. He was concerned that he really did say something he shouldn't have, but she gazed up at the sky again then finally replied.

"If I'm honest, I don't." her shoulders slumped, as if she had only just figured this out for herself. "It's stupidly lonely, and more often than not I struggle and fight to survive. All I do is travel around and occasionally get paid after talking to people that I hate...I suppose I hadn't really let myself think about it before." he suspected that she wasn't concerned about trying to cover up that her voice sounded unsteady and sat up to see her face.

"Then stay here." as he spoke, he put his hand on hers, making her head snap to look him in the eye. He held her gaze as best he could before she finally looked away, and he removed his hand.

She took a breath, and smiled, though it was clearly forced. "I can't. The old man is relying on me. Knowing that I'm important to him, and that he needs me has been enough to keep me going. I don't think that will ever change either." she seemed to recall something, and when she turned back to him and smiled again, this time it was genuine.

His breath caught in his throat as he stared at her, moonlight upon her, a truly happy smile on her face and her hair flowing behind her in the wind. She was definitely attractive, but that wasn't something he wasn't exactly ready and equipped to see and not be affected by. She looked incredible and all he could was to smile back. He hoped that he wasn't blushing, because that would just make this conversation weird.

"How old are you?" she asked out of the blue, and the subject change threw him and he had to think about his answer.

"I'm 19. I turn 20 in a few months." he answered, still a little distracted.

"Me too. Except I don't turn 20 for a while yet."

Though he was struggling to catch up to her pace in this conversation, she didn't seem too bothered by the earlier realisation, but he knew that she was good at hiding her thoughts. He did feel bad about accidentally forcing her to think about that, so he just resolved to try and cheer her up.

"Has Marco told you about the time I fell asleep in a village bar and got left behind?" he grinned his boyish grin and laughed as her head tilted back in surprise.

"What? No, tell me!" she began laughing, and he told her the story.

By the end, she was practically in hysterics, rolling on the floor, cackling herself stupid. He had his hand over his face, as he hunched over laughing with her. They swapped funny stories for the next few hours, both their stomachs hurting terribly because they were both splitting their sides in laughter.

Lyanna told Ace about the first time she had come on the ship, and Thatch had proposed to her the moment he saw her, and how Marco had almost killed him to defend her. He told her about Luffy crying all the time when he was a kid, and she was shocked to hear that the crazy strong rookie pirate was a crybaby. He heard about how she struggled to figure out what powers she had after she realised that the strange, terrible tasting fruit she took a bite of was a Devil Fruit. Since she was only young, she told him how she had tried to do all the cool abilities that the big pirates and Navy higher-ups had, not realising that she wouldn't have the same powers as them. She was practically howling when he told her about all the times that he had done a dine-and-dash with Luffy and Sabo when they were kids.

They were interrupted by the next crew member on watch, so they said their goodnights and headed off to their separate quarters for the night. She opened the door to Marco's quarters as quietly as she could, as he stood opposite her trying not to laugh at her attempt at being stealthy. Once she had stepped inside and confirmed that Marco was still asleep, she gave him a thumbs up and they both snorted to repress their laughter. She mouthed 'Night' to him and he did the same and watched her disappear behind the door with a smile.

He flopped down on his bed, and couldn't stop smiling, even once he fell asleep...

#####

"Ace. You free for a second?" The young man turned to see Marco gesturing for them to walk together.

"Of course." he fell into step with his fellow Commander, unsure what the conversation was about. Marco's expression was carefully blank, and Ace was concerned about what would cause him to be so composed.

"It's about Lyanna." Marco's voice was also strangely serious, and Ace's breath hitched a little at the mention of his new friend.

"What about her?"

"Are you interested in her?" Ace's head snapped abruptly towards Marco at hearing his question, but he looked at the deck beneath them a moment after.

"I'm not sure." Marco didn't reply, so he continued speaking. "I think she's fun to be around, and she's cute too. But...uhh…" he trailed off, unsure of how his crew mate would react to the news that he had a crush on his old friend.

Marco inhaled deeply through his nose before he responded. "So you actually like her?" Ace looked up at him with a raised eyebrow in question. "I mean that you have feelings for her, and aren't just physically attracted to her."

Slowly, but surely, Ace tilted his head back slightly, before he nodded decisively, like he had only just figured it out for himself. Marco nodded as well and looked away at the sky, taking in the information that Ace had given him. He had already figured out that Lyanna had a crush on the Second Division Commander, but wasn't sure if he felt the same in return.

"You going to tell her?" Marco asked after a minute of awkward silence.

"I-I don't know…" Ace had no idea how this was supposed to work.

"You know, I don't actually mind as much as I thought I would." Marco's tone changed to a much lighter one, and Ace relaxed a little more. "Maybe because it's you, and I know that you aren't an asshole. I know that she is tough and she can take care of herself and all, but she's still a sister to me and I can't not try to look out for her." the blond shrugged faintly and smiled.

"Thank you." there was an upwards inflection at the end, as Ace wasn't entirely sure if he should be thanking Marco for his words or not. "I thought for a bit there that you…" he trailed off, but Marco seemed to get the gist.

"Ah, I thought that I did for a while there too. But I still think of her as a kid. It'd be too weird. Besides, she hasn't ever thought of me that way." he scratched the back of his head and huffed softly. "Whatever you decide to do, just don't make her cry, or I'll have to kill you." Marco was still smiling, although Ace didn't doubt his seriousness.

Before Marco left him to his thoughts, he placed a hand on his shoulder and strolled away with his hands in his pockets. Ace looked across the ship to where Lyanna was chatting away with Izo, Jozu, Namur and a few others. She would have to leave soon, so even if he told her how he felt, it wasn't like they were going to live happily ever after anyway. That was if she actually felt the same.

He made a sound somewhere between a sigh and a groan, and went back to what he was doing before...


	6. Burn

**Chapter 6 - Burn**

The Moby Dick had docked at a nearby island after seeing that a huge storm was brewing ahead of them. Instead of pushing through, Whitebeard had suggested they dock for a few days to wait for it to die down. If they went out in the storm and ended up damaging the ship, it wouldn't be worth the extra time they would make. So they had made port on the command of their Captain.

They had arrived late in the afternoon and everyone was partying in the tavern. The last time they had made port for more than a few hours to get supplies was when they were picking up Lyanna, and it seemed that the men desperately wanted to live it up for a few hours. Since they weren't going anywhere, they may as well enjoy themselves. Said woman was sitting on a table, right in the middle, showing Marco, Ace and a few others how to play a new card game that she had learnt. Unfortunately, she was also terrible at it, since these guys were fast learners, but she had fun losing anyway.

Once it got late, some of the men stayed upstairs at the tavern, but Lyanna was smart and went a bit further into town and got a room at the inn, which was much nicer and quieter. Actually, she was fairly certain that aside from the innkeeper, she was the only person staying there. She left those who were still awake and headed to the inn, staying under cover where she could to avoid the rain, although she didn't really feel like sleeping yet. After she headed into her room, she placed her things down, emptying her pockets and sighed contentedly. She took a seat on the balcony of her room, and just watched her surroundings in silence. There was the soft sounds of waves in the background along with the wind blowing in the trees. It was a calming few minutes.

She saw a bright light on her right, and turned to look over her shoulder. It was Ace with a literal fist of fire and he smiled when he saw her. Her stomach did a backflip, but she managed to play it cool and smile in return. Obviously she had been too distracted to sense his approach, let alone hear him let himself into her room. He came and sat with her, keeping his fire going for the warmth.

"I thought you were going to bed." he spoke first, and she shrugged instead of answering. "I saw you up here." she nodded in understanding, and kept quiet, sensing that he had more to say.

"Lyanna. Do you...do you think some people shouldn't have been born?" he asked just loud enough for her to hear over the rain, and watched as she frowned at him, wondering where he got this train of thought from.

"No, of course not. Everyone deserves the right to have a life." he listened to her and kept his expression as blank as he could. "I think that what matters is _how_ people live their live. Some people do horrible things and may deserve to die, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't have been born. They've just fucked up on the way." she got the feeling he was asking for his own sake, and tried to think of something that would resonate with him a little more.

"Think about it this way. If you weren't born, for example, what would Luffy and Sabo have done without you when you were kids? The Whitebeard pirates wouldn't have you for a brilliant Second Division Commander and I wouldn't have a new friend." she gave him her brightest smile, and she watched his eyes begin to twinkle in the light of his fire.

"Do you really think so?" he was holding back, but she nodded and kept smiling.

"I'm not really good with this sort of stuff, but yeah, I think so." she scrunched her nose up a little as she spoke.

He stayed quiet for another minute, and held her gaze. She felt like he was searching for something, and just let him see if he could find it. A shadow of a smile appeared on his face, and he took a breath, as if readying himself for something. His eyes dropped to her mouth, and she subconsciously pulled her bottom lip between her teeth in a nervous gesture. Their seats were next to each other, but still a few inches apart.

Carefully, and slowly, he leant towards her, and she just watched in anticipation before they were only inches from each other. Her eyes fluttered closed, and the last thought that crossed her mind was that she hoped she wasn't terrible.

"Did you see Lyanna going this way?" Marco's voice rang out in the night over the deluge, calling out to someone that was closer to their location, and it broke the moment.

Ace moved away, staring in the opposite direction, out of embarrassment, and she glared in the direction that Marco's voice came from. The blond bastard wasn't even in her line of sight and he had to mess up their moment. She sighed softly in frustration but she knew that Ace heard it after she heard him chuckle quietly.

"I'll be back." she stood up and sighed again before she walked over to the edge of the balcony where she looked for a moment before jumping off.

The secret son of the Pirate King took a deep breath before leaning back with his arms behind his head. He heard Lyanna's voice yelling at Marco, and laughed at her temper. She was rather hot-headed at times, more so than he expected. Even though the moment was ruined, he didn't feel as awkward as he thought he would. Maybe that would change once she came back though.

When she finally returned, Ace saw Marco walking with a limp back the way he had come, a sour expression on his face. He couldn't help but laugh softly, but not loud enough for her to hear as she approached. She looked tired and when she was next to him, she flopped down in her seat. Her arms fell lazily next to her and her legs were outstretched, her head lolled to one side. Her hair came over her face slightly, some of it fallen out of its braid, and he couldn't see her expression. He looked over at her and watched as her chest rose and fell with her breathing. Abruptly, she groaned frustratedly and he snorted in amusement at her change in pace.

She turned to look in front of her and he saw her frowning, narrowing her eyes at the hair over her face. Her chest rose and she exhaled heavily, the hair blowing off her face. Most of it moved, some stayed put, and she sighed softly. After a moment, she looked over to him with a cheeky smirk and he broke out into laughter with her. Their moment was definitely gone, but luckily it didn't seem awkward.

"Ace." She asked softly after their laughter died down. Her expression had sobered somewhat, and she had a far off look in her eye.

"Mmm?"

"Why did you ask that question before?"

Lyanna finally looked at him, and he wasn't entirely sure how to answer her. If he didn't give her a sufficient enough answer, she may just use her Devil Fruit abilities to force him into telling her. However, if he told her, that would be one more person who knew his secret, something that he had tried to avoid for his entire life. He had decided that the old man was his father and not his biological father. Ace strongly doubted that even though she was an information broker that she would actually sell his secret, but he still wasn't sure if he was ready to tell her.

"I don't know. Just popped in my head." He turned back to look at the sky but felt her gaze strongly upon him. He knew that she wasn't convinced and just hoped that she didn't pry.

"Fair enough. Tell me when you are ready." She replied simply, making sure that he understood she knew it wasn't nothing but not pushing either. He was relieved that she didn't push and let go of the breath he was holding.

Silence hung between them for a few minutes until Lyanna stood up with a lazy groan. She put her hands on her hips and huffed before turning to him and offering him a hand to get up with. He took it and stood with her but didn't say anything.

"I'm heading off to bed. I'll see you later." She smiled at him then casually strolled away and disappeared through the door into her room, shutting it softly behind her.

The young man ran a hand through his hair and made a sound somewhere between a sigh and a groan. He headed back towards the dock, and went straight to his quarters. Once he laid down on his mattress, he stared at the ceiling, and hoped that sleep would take him soon.

But it didn't…


	7. Blaze

**Chapter 7 - Blaze**

The next morning when Ace woke up, he decided to take Lyanna to breakfast. She had been very understanding last night, and not only allowed him to ask her strange questions, but didn't pry or pester when he didn't feel comfortable telling her the reason why he asked her strange questions. He felt that he should at least thank her for her patience with him. Also, he was hungry.

Once he was ready for the day, he bolted to the inn she was staying in, trying to avoid the rain that had let up for a few hours this morning but started up again. He reached her room after nodding politely to the innkeeper, and knocked on her door. He waited for a minute before he knocked again then heard the innkeepers voice call out to him.

"Are you calling after the pretty young lady staying in that room?" The older man called out to him, and he headed down the small stairs and over to the counter.

"Yes, I am. I wanted to get breakfast with her. Has she left already?" He asked politely, using his well practiced manners.

"She has. She left about half an hour ago before the rain started again. Not sure where she went though." The innkeeper responded in his quiet voice and Ace nodded in understanding.

"Thank you for your help." Ace tipped his hat and headed out the front door.

 _Where the hell could she be?_ He thought to himself as he stood outside the inn, close enough to the building that he didn't get rained on. Maybe she had gone back to the ship but they hadn't crossed paths through the town. Turning around, he headed back to the dock and went below deck of the Moby Dick, where most of the guys were talking, playing cards and killing time while the storm kept up.

He joined in with his crew mates until several hours had passed. Surely she would have come to the ship by now, even if she had done her own thing for the morning. It was just after midday and he was beginning to get worried. Jozu noticed his demeanour and questioned him, but he brushed it off as being annoyed that there was a storm and they were stuck until it died down. Jozu seemed to accept his answer and let it be.

After another hour, Ace had enough. He was definitely worried now. Standing up, he told the guys he was heading into town to see Lyanna. Marco yelled out to him to tell her to get out of bed since he had told him that she must have been asleep when he went to see her earlier, not wanting to worry Marco as well. That wouldn't help at all since he was volatile and incredibly protective of his old friend. He kept his pace slow and casual as he headed above deck, but began to jog as he made his way down the dock and into town.

Once he arrived at the inn, he poked his head in where the innkeeper said hello and told him that she hadn't returned yet. After thanking him, he took a long, slow breath and tried to figure out what the hell was going on. Lyanna wouldn't just disappear for no reason and there was no one dangerous on the island that would hurt her. His hands clenched into fists and he started to run around the island, looking everywhere for her. His heart was racing, but not just because he was running. He was worried that something had happened to her. She had been gone for almost 5 hours now and he had no idea how she had been spending that time. His mind jumped to conclusions about her falling in the sea and drowning, getting taken away in the claws of a giant bird, or a sea king deciding that she looked like lunch as she took a walk.

After almost an hour of searching, he was on the opposite side of the island and saw a massive tree near the beach. From a distance, he could see that there was someone sitting at the base of the huge tree and sprinted towards it. When he got close enough, he recognised Lyanna's form and his anxiety quieted down. Once he reached her, she smiled up at him as he doubled over with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

"Everything okay?" She questioned, her tone confused. When he didn't answer immediately she stood up and moved toward him. "Ace?"

Finally, he straightened up to his full height and grabbed her shoulders. Her eyes went wide at his physical contact and also in question of what was going on.

"Where the hell have you been?!" He yelled at her and immediately regretted it as he saw her flinch and her brow furrow tightly together. He took a breath and softened his voice. "You've been gone for 6 hours. I had no idea where you were."

"6 hours?!" She raised her voice, but out of confusion, not anger. "I found this place and I thought it was a nice spot to read my book and then it started raining again. I didn't realise I had been here for so long. The sun isn't out so I mustn't have noticed the time." She explained softly, gesturing to the novel on the ground next to where she had been sitting.

Ace sighed heavily and let her go, putting one hand on his hip and the other rubbed the bridge of his nose. He was relieved and he did understand how she could not realise the time, but his heart was still racing. When he looked back at her, she was staring at her feet, shifting her weight from her heels to her toes in a rather timid fashion. He felt another pang of guilt for yelling at her and frowned at himself.

"Let's go back. You'll get sick being out here all day." He turned and headed back towards the town, hearing her collect her book from behind him.

She fell into step just behind him on his left and he struggled to think of a good way to apologise for yelling earlier. It wasn't a good way to go about it, and he knew that he shouldn't have treated her like a child. She was capable of looking after herself, but his concern got the better of him. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he realised that it was because he had feelings for her but brushed it aside as they arrived at the dock.

They both headed below deck where Marco yelled out to them once he saw they had returned.

"Nice sleep in, Lyanna? Did it take you an hour to wake her up, Ace? She's not that scary!" Though the First Division Commander was making a joke, Ace didn't even register that he was being spoken to and Lyanna had to cover for him. She placed a hand on his bicep where his tattoo was, bringing him back to reality.

"No, but I had to put my face on and he waited for me. He's certainly nicer than you are, Marco." Luckily for Ace, she was a quick thinker and played into his fabrication flawlessly.

Yet another pang of guilt hit him solidly in the chest when she said that he was nice as well. He hoped that she wasn't going to be angry or upset with how he had treated her. It came from a good place, but he just wasn't good at expressing his feelings in that way. Also he was too hot headed for his own good. Being a fire Logia suited him a little _too_ well. They joined in on talking with the crew, though Lyanna stayed with Marco and Ace distanced himself as subtly as he could.

Once it got late, Lyanna headed off, back into the town and Ace waited until mostly everyone else had hit the hay before he went after her. He still felt bad and wanted to apologise and as he ran towards the inn, his hat getting soaked again, he hoped she was still awake.

The same innkeeper was there again and he greeted Ace politely who returned it, albeit briefly before he raced up the small flight of stairs and knocked softly on her door.

Her voice sounded from behind it for him to come in and he couldn't have opened it quicker, his nervousness increasing every moment. His eyes fell on her just as she was pulling a shirt over her head. He got a glimpse of her shoulders and back, and subconsciously noticed her Whitebeard tattoo on her left shoulder. It was small, but he recognised it even in the split second he saw it. Once she pulled the shirt down, she turned to look at him with an unreadable expression.

"Lyanna, I-" he faltered and dropped his chin to his chest, his shoulders slumping too. "I wanted to apologise for earlier today." He walked closer to her until they were close enough that she had to crank her neck back to look up at him.

"I couldn't find you for ages and I just overreacted. I shouldn't have yelled at you…Sorry…" he scratched the back of his head awkwardly and his brow knit together in a frown.

She sit down on the edge of the bed and gestured for him to join her. He did, but felt very strange considering he didn't make a habit of being in young woman's rooms. Her expression hadn't changed, and he was worried that she was angry with him.

"The innkeeper told me that you came looking for me a few times." She spoke evenly, not letting him have an insight to her thoughts or feelings.

"He said that you came in the morning, saying that you wanted to take me to breakfast. Then the next time he saw you was just after lunch time and that you looked very concerned." Her eyes burned holes into him as she finally made eye contact with him and he chewed his lip nervously.

"Were you worried about me? Is that why you were so frantic?" Her tone finally softened and her blue-grey eyes did as well.

A small, embarrassed nod was all he could manage.

"Apology accepted then. I figured that was the case, but I hoped that you would eventually tell me on your own." She bumped her shoulder against his in a friendly gesture. "You're too polite not too." She said with a smile and he finally relaxed.

"I didn't mean to raise my voice. It's just...I don't know." He shrugged and gave up trying to explain himself. She understood and that was the important thing.

"It came from a good place. You had good intentions. It just...came out the wrong way." She offered with another bright smile and he practically melted on the spot.

"Yeah…" he replied breathlessly with a half smile, and he was a little too distracted to notice that he had been staring at her for the last few minutes.

She sighed and leant her head against his shoulder and he could smell her hair. It smelt amazing, and he let his head rest lightly on top of hers, feeling tired after all the excitement and anxiousness that he had put himself through today. Lyanna yawned and snuggled a little closer to him and he carefully lifted his arm, and placed it around her shoulder. She nuzzled closer with her cheek on his chest and he smiled at her affection.

Once she yawned again, he decided it was probably time for him to go and pulled back from her.

"I'll leave you to get some sleep." He was about to stand, but her hand on his leg stopped him.

"You don't have to go." His eyes snapped towards her, wide with surprise before she elaborated. "You can stay here with me. I know you've been running around in the rain all day and you are going to end up getting sick if you aren't careful." He smiled at her concern but still wasn't sure.

She shuffled back until she was just in front of her pillow before she tapped the space beside her. Though he felt odd, clearly she didn't mind and he knew he desperately wanted to stay. He walked on his hands and knees to sit beside her and they got under the covers together. They both laid on their back and listened to the rain until Ace saw Lyanna get a cold shiver. He nudged her to get her attention and outstretched his arm so she could curl up with her head on his chest. She obliged with a tiny, happy smile and sighed contentedly. He was always very warm so she certainly wouldn't get cold if they shared a bed.

It didn't take long before they fell asleep to the soft patter of rain in each other's arms…


	8. Combustion

**Chapter 8 - Combustion**

Lyanna and Ace woke up together with a start at the sound of a massive crack of thunder. It boomed in their eardrums and Lyanna put her hands over her ears. Instinctively, Ace was ready to pull her into his arms to protect her but he realised immediately that it was just the sounds of the storm. She looked at him and they heard the wind picking up outside. It seemed the storm had gotten worse gradually through the night and was still picking up in intensity.

She leapt out of the bed after hearing a huge crash and ran out to see the door to the inn off its hinges against the bottom of the stairs. Swearing, she yelled to Ace and he followed her over. They picked the door up and placed it back. He used his Devil Fruit ability to melt the hinge against the door so that even though it wouldn't be able to open, the wind couldn't blow it open again. At least it would lessen the damage inside.

Once they were done the innkeeper had come out and thanked them and Lyanna told him that it was a good idea to make sure all the windows and doors were shut, and locked tight. He left to them alone to check everything and Lyanna looked to Ace again.

"If it's this bad, there is probably other people in the town that need help." She was practically yelling so that he could hear her and he nodded his agreement.

"I'll get the rest of the crew." He answered her just as loudly before he opened a window and let her crawl out of it first then followed, heading towards the dock.

Most of the guys were already out, tying knots so the sails wouldn't come loose and he used a large arc of fire to get their attention.

"We need to help the people in the town!" He shouted as loud as his lungs would let him.

Jozu kept up with him as they ran back to the town and began helping wherever they needed to. Everyone busted their backs to help out the townspeople batter down the hatches to get through the rest of the storm. A lot were trying to move debris so that it wouldn't blow back into houses or through windows, and create more damage.

By the time the sun was rising, they had done all they could and went back to the safety of their beds. Some of the townspeople offered for the helpful pirate crew to shower and eat with them as thanks for their kindness and Lyanna managed to slip away back to the inn. The old innkeeper was very stunned at the state of her once he saw her crawling through a window, but very thankful.

Her hair was everywhere, most of it long fallen from its rushed plait, her clothes were soaked through from the rain and her skin was pale and clammy from the cold. She would have to get something else to wear later. He offered to wash her clothes for her and she was very appreciative but had nothing else to wear while they were washing, so she declined his polite offer and headed upstairs. She was exhausted and had ran herself ragged trying to help the townspeople to the best of her ability.

Once she had started to strip off her wet shirt, a strap caught on her hair, getting it stuck on her head halfway up. There was a knock on the door and Ace headed in without hesitation to see his friend struggling to remove her shirt. She called him over to help. Though he blushed all the way to his ears, he headed over to help her out. She gave him a muffled thank you through the fabric as he untangled her hair from the strap and allowed her to pull it off completely. He chuckled with her softly and she huffed exaggeratedly in relief.

"How on earth are you dry?" She said to him accusingly and he just raised an eyebrow at her.

"Hmm, I wonder." He summoned flame to his pointer finger and tapped his chin with it in a faked thoughtful gesture.

"Ahh." She nodded and gave a noncommittal shrug. "Anyway, what on earth are you doing here? You should be getting some rest." Although she had a bra on, she covered herself half assedly with her shirt. His eyes dropped occasionally and she resisted the urge to smirk triumphantly.

"I noticed something, but didn't get to tell you before you slipped away." Gently, he took a hold of her arm and bent it so her forearm was facing her.

There was a large, red gash that had already stopped bleeding a while ago. It spanned almost half the length of her arm and she wondered why she hadn't noticed it. It must have happened hours ago.

"You ran off before I could tell you to get it cleaned up." He said with a frown at her which she pointedly ignored.

He gestured for her to sit on the bed but she pointed to her wet pants and he seemed to remember something. She didn't realise it earlier, but he pulled a small bag from nowhere and unzipped it. There was a few medical supplies and a scrunched up piece of yellow fabric. As he pulled it out, the other contents of the bag came with it, spilling haphazardly on the bed.

Smiling at her, he pushed the fabric into her hand, and she realised it was a shirt. She held it up against her to see if it would fit and she couldn't help but smile at the look on his face. Although he didn't seem to realise it, his blush had returned again but softer than before. She pretended that she hadn't noticed and zipped off to the small bathroom where she quickly showered and put on his shirt when she was done. As best she could, she hung up her wet clothes and hoped that they would dry before tomorrow morning. Otherwise she would have to buy something. It was probably a good idea since her last shirt had been ruined when she protected the kid before she met up with the Whitebeard pirates. She had no spares now, so she would have to get something new.

When she buttoned up the shirt, she had a small moment of concern that her larger than average chest was going to pop the buttons off but she didn't really have an alternative at the moment. Breathing deeply to steel her nerves, she headed out into the bedroom where Ace was quietly waiting where she had left him. His eyes fell on her and she could see that he was physically holding his mouth closed to stop his jaw from dropping. He looked away just as fast, and Lyanna barely stopped herself from cracking up laughing. Ace was already awkward enough with the strange tension between them, she didn't want to discourage him. She already found his fumbled attempts at flirting with her adorable as it was. He didn't need any help in that regard.

Once she sat down next to him, he remembered that he was going to bandage up her arm and moved it to his lap carefully. She hissed slightly as he cleaned up the wound as best he could and his gaze held his apologies. It was obvious he was trying to be careful, but it stung nonetheless. They were quiet aside from Ace asking her to rotate her arm for the next few minutes as he treated her wound. She smiled faintly at his kindness when he gave her back her arm.

"Thank you. And thank you for the shirt. I will return it to you once I buy some clothes later." Lyanna spoke softly, her voice raspy from yelling to communicate with the crew for the last few hours.

Ace just shrugged with a smile at her instead of speaking and stuffed the rest of his supplies back into his small pack. He tossed it into the corner and sighed heavily, seeming like he had just now realising how tired he was.

"Tired, love?" Lyanna asked quietly, her eyes soft and concerned for him.

He nodded and shuffled his weight, resting his head on her shoulder. Her stomach did a flip inside her and she willed herself to be cool. It was a difficult task, but she would try. Carefully, she nudged him forward and led him down to put his head in her lap. For a few quiet minutes, she ran her fingers through his hair, gently untangling the knots as she went. He sighed softly and turned to face her, putting his arms around her.

Although she wasn't usually good with this sort of stuff, she still felt comfortable with the physical contact. Sure, she got hit on and whistled at when she visited certain places, but it was very rare that she even let anyone lay a finger on her and let them live. Ace never made her feel forced or pressured, and since he was always awkward, she usually had to initiate their flirting. He always tried to impress her, but it just never seemed to work in his favour. Normally, he ended up embarrassing himself, which she found endearing anyway.

"Ace."

"Mmm?" Their conversations always started the same way.

She wanted to ask him if he actually liked her, but hesitated and chickened out at the last second.

"I wonder when this storm is going to let up. It's crazy." Barely thinking of something in time, she missed the way that his eyes narrowed at her, knowing that she had changed her mind about what she wanted to say.

"Hmm…" he made a sound of agreement and she began to yawn.

"Let's get some sleep, yeah."

Ace made another sound, acknowledging her suggestion and he sat up. They both shuffled back and got under the covers, and due to their exhaustion, fell asleep almost instantly…

###

The sun was high in the sky when Ace woke up. Lyanna was tossing and turning next to him, and talking in her sleep. She was frowning and he leant over her to see if she was unwell from being in the extreme weather for hours.

Abruptly, she sat up and luckily, being a Logia, she went straight through him. She was breathing heavily and her eyes were darting around, trying to figure out her surroundings. Her hand that was closest to him was fisted in the sheets and he could see it shaking.

He placed his own on top of it and sat up so she could see him. She flinched when she saw him, and raised her arm with a clenched fist out of sheer instinct. Her jaw dropped as if to speak in apology after she dropped her hand and exhaled in relief knowing that she was safe with him here. He nodded softly in understanding. After a few minutes, her breathing began to slow down gradually. It seemed that she had calmed down once she got her bearings.

"Bad dream?" He asked her softly.

She made brief eye contact with him before she looked down at his hand covering her much smaller one and nodded slowly.

"Wanna talk about it?" Even though she had calmed down, the haunted look in her eye still lingered.

After some hesitation, she spoke. "It was about when my village got attacked and I lost my parents. That's all." he frowned for her and felt his chest ache in empathy. He had lost his parents, although he hated his father, his mother must have been an incredible person and he wished that he was able to meet her.

Her eyes were downcast and her breathing slow, and he lifted his hand off hers and placed it over her shoulders, gently nudging her to lean against him. She sighed heavily, and allowed her weight to shift so her head was on his shoulder.

"Thank you." She said quietly, not entirely sure how to thank him for his understanding and his willingness to listen. "For everything. I don't know how to thank you or repay you."

"Then don't. Just accept it." Lyanna heard her smile in his voice and felt him shrug with the shoulder she wasn't leaning on. She huffed faintly at his simple logic.

They laid back down, and were silent for a while before they fell back asleep...


	9. Inferno

**Chapter 9 - Inferno**

A few hours later when everyone was rested after the chaotic night, the repairs began. Everyone banded together once more to clean up the mess, fix broken windows, repair smashed doors and do their part. It was exhausting, but rewarding simultaneously. It wasn't too often that the Whitebeard pirates got the chance to do some good and it seemed like they enjoyed it.

When they had done all they could, the townspeople decided to have a feast and party to honour their kindness and selflessness. And of course, no pirate could say no to a good party, especially when there was plenty of food and drink to go around.

Lyanna was in her room, getting changed after the long day before going to meet up with her friends, whom she could hear were having a great time already. One of the women she had helped last night had given her some clothing today, after she had seen that hers were in tatters from last night. She had received a simple black dress which she had decided to wear tonight. It was just a plain, halter neck dress which came to just above her knee. Simple, but flattering for her curvy figure. It didn't fit her too well, probably being a size too big but it was free and she appreciated it. It was a party after all so she should look the part. She should occasionally be feminine, right?

After pulling her hair free from its braid, she combed her fingers through it and groaned. That would do. It wasn't like she was trying to impress someone. Not at all. Not a certain Devil Fruit user. Not a certain young male Devil Fruit user. Nope. She groaned again because she knew she was lying to herself.

Shaking her head, she made her way to the town centre were there was many barrels of drink, and countless plates of food. Izo greeted her on the way past, and Namur gave her a nod. A few of the men's eyes lingered a little longer than usual and she started to notice as she walked through the massive group.

Marco, Thatch, Jozu, Ace and the old man himself were sitting in a group and the old man's usual laugh drew their attention to her. Following his gaze, they saw her approach, taking a mug from someone on the way through. She grinned at them, but her brow knit together at the strange look on their faces.

When she reached them, she took a huge gulp from her mug and sighed contentedly. After she lowered her drinking receptacle, she stared for a moment.

"What?" She yelled in confusion.

"You're wearing a dress." Marco stated simply, his tone and expression blank.

"So what?" She snapped back. Whitebeard began to laugh at the exchange, but said nothing. "Well, shit. I can be a girl sometimes, Marco."

"Yeah, but it's…weird." The blond replied, still unsure.

"Then don't look." Lyanna resisted the urge to screech at him, just barely keeping her voice even.

She shook her head and went to sit next to Jozu who was farthest from Marco. When she looked across, she saw Ace's eyes upon her. Marco may have made her feel self-conscious, but his warm gaze told her that she shouldn't be. Embarrassed, she looked away first, staring at the amber liquid in her mug. Carefully, she drained it, trying her best not to spill its contents on herself. When she was done, Jozu roared with laughter and filled it again.

The night was full of enjoyment, good conversation, food and drink, and she was having a lot of fun. Although, she felt eyes on her the whole night. Just one set though. They belonged to the Second Division Commander and she felt his eyes burning holes through her every few minutes until he finally came over to her.

She was standing next to a signpost and had been talking with Vista for a few minutes until he had gone to refill his drink. Ace came to stand next to her, and attempted to lean against the other side of the signpost. Unfortunately, being a little tipsy, he missed and stumbled faintly, making her laugh to the point of hysterics. She tried to stop but when he looked at her again, she lost it once more.

To try and stop her laughing, he stood in front of her and placed a finger on her lips and shushed her. The effect was immediate, but it was the surprise from the abrupt contact that ceased her train of thought. His plan seemed to backfire as he got caught up in the moment and brushed the back of his fingers against her cheek. They were interrupted however, by Vista's return and Ace swiftly pulled his hand away. Though he realised that most of the crew probably knew that he had a crush on her by now, he didn't want it to embarrass her.

By midnight, there was pirates sleeping on the ground, although some had gone back to the ship, or to the tavern. Lyanna was saying goodnight to Namur and Curiel when Ace appeared from nowhere and slung an arm around her waist. He was standing very close to her and she resisted the urge to smile like an idiot. She was supposed to be tough, not a love struck school girl squealing over a cute boy paying attention to her. She returned his embrace as she yawned and stayed with her friends for a few minutes before she said goodnight.

When she walked away, Ace simply fell into step with her without letting go. She didn't question it, and a calm silence fell over then as they walked back to the inn for the night. The innkeeper wasn't there at the counter, obviously already gone to bed for the night. He let her go when she rummaged around in her outfit for the room key and he was surprised when she pulled out from her bra. She snorted laughter at his stunned expression and they headed inside.

"Can I use your bathroom?" Ace asked quietly as she flopped down on her bed, and the bottom of her dress hovered for a moment before falling over her.

"Mmm." She made a sound of consent and brought her hands behind her head, making herself comfortable.

Quietly, she dozed, breathing softly until she heard the bathroom door open. Her eyes were still closed, even as Ace practically cannon balled down onto the bed next to her. The landing was too much and he rebounded and lost his balance, falling off the side of the bed. Lyanna immediately lost it and began cackling loudly at him and sat up to look at him in a heap on the floor.

Bouncing back up to his feet as quickly as he fell, Lyanna continued to laugh at him, doubling over and holding her stomach. He frowned at her and made his way to the front of the bed, where she was still laughing. He bent down and his face was right in front of hers, momentarily distracting her. His hands were on the tops of her thighs and she leant back a little in surprise. She went quiet as he slowly climbed onto the bed next to her and laid down with him.

Gently, he laid half over her, and nuzzled into her neck, making her smile. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to say something or do something, so she went with putting her arms around him. One went over his waist and the other made soft patterns on the surface of his back. He exhaled slowly and she felt his breath fan through her hair and over her neck and shoulder. It tickled faintly and she chuckled almost silently. He brought a hand up and placed it against her head, and the other stayed over her torso. Snuggling into her further, he was so close that she could feel his smile against her skin.

Her heart was hammering in her chest and she was certain that he could either hear or feel it's rapid pace. When she felt his lips brush against her skin, her breath hitched in her throat. Although she enjoyed it, she was frozen and couldn't move. His lips trailed over her neck and shoulders softly and cautiously. Her breath quickened and he seemed to be encouraged by her nails digging into his back.

Abruptly, he stopped, resting his forehead on her shoulder, breathing heavily.

"We should stop. We've both been drinking and I don't…" he trailed off and she frowned.

"You don't what? Did I do something wrong?" She asked, hoping that she hadn't messed up somehow.

Her arms fell away from him when he leant on his elbows to look at her. She could see that his eyes were still darkened with desire and felt him shift to adjust his weight on her.

"You didn't do anything wrong. I just...don't want to do anything wrong."

From his expression, she gathered that he was worried that she might not want to continue and she sighed with a smile that on her face. He gave her a half smile in return before she ran a hand through his hair.

"Do you think if I was worried you would do the wrong thing that you would be in my room right now?" She asked with a teasing tone.

A half-assed shrug was his reply and she placed her right hand on his face with purpose.

"Say 'I know that you trust me or I wouldn't be here.'" Her tone was firm and she watched him fail to resist her.

"I know that you trust me or I wouldn't be here." He repeated back to her flawlessly and she smiled at him and she took her hand away.

His jaw dropped and he looked down at her hand, trying to find something to explain what had just happened.

"How the fuck did you do that?" He asked with a shocked and incredulous tone.

"Left hand stops you from lying, right hand makes you say whatever I want you to." She waved each extremity appropriately.

"Since when?"

"Since forever. I just don't tell anyone the second part. Only the old man and Marco know that bit. Can't ruin the mystery, hmm?" Her mischievous smirk made him laugh.

"Sneaky." He said with a laugh and smirked wider in response.

"Try lying to me." She placed her left hand on as low on her back as she could reach. "What colour is the sky?"

As best he could, he tried to say that it was red, but was able to resist and keep quiet, fighting against the urge to say blue. She moved her hand up to his shoulder blade and repeated her question and his ability to resist decreased further. Once she cupped his cheek with her hand and repeated her question again, he blurted out blue with barely any hesitation at all. She couldn't help but laugh as he scoffed in confusion once she removed her hand.

"The closer my hand is to your face, the harder it is to resist." She laughed again when he replied with a sound of understanding and nodded his head.

She placed her right hand onto his shoulder blade. "Now tell me that the sky is red."

"The sky…." he fought the urge as best he could until her hand was on his face. "The sky is red."

They laughed together, Lyanna laughing because she was actually impressed with how well he resisted, and Ace laughing because it felt very strange to be forced to say whatever she wanted. It felt like there was an unfamiliar voice, which somehow felt like it belonged to an old friend,in his head telling him what to say.

"Say 'Lyanna is the toughest and prettiest girl on the Grand Line.'"

"Lyanna is the toughest and prettiest girl on the Grand Line." He repeated back without resistance and smirked cheekily. "She also has the nicest butt on the Grand Line."

She cracked up laughing at his ad lib and he pulled her closer for a hug. He laughed into the crook of her neck and she put her arms around him again. Once they had finished laughing and caught their breath, Ace shifted and laid down next to her, feeling how tired he was.

"Let's get some sleep. We'll probably end up leaving tomorrow since the storm has stopped." He put an arm under her head and she moved to put her head on his chest.

They both exhaled at the same time and smiled together as they closed their eyes, falling into a content sleep.

###

 _The next morning_

Ace woke up within a few seconds of Lyanna, feeling her carefully lift her head from his chest. He stayed fairly still until she went to get up and pulled her back into his embrace with a laugh. Her laugh was muffled with her face in his chest and he held her close, kissing her hair.

"Morning babe." He spoke with his nose in her hair, enjoying the way she snuggled closer.

"Morning. Hungover?" She asked simply and he shook his head before he realised that she couldn't see what he was doing.

"Nah. I'm alright. You?" She shook her head and stayed quiet for a few minutes.

Ace remembered most of what happened last night and he smiled at the memory. He had very much enjoyed staying here with her and he was glad that she wanted him here too. It made his confidence soar.

"Thank you for letting me stay with you like this. It's...nice." He spoke quietly, as if being too loud would ruin the moment.

"I already told you that I'm happy for you stay here with me." She smiled into his chest. "I've also told you before that if you don't stop being so sweet that I'm going to fall for you."

He moved to push her back a little so that he could look at her. Her expression fell and she looked away, before he pulled her close again and kissed her cheek.

"This sucks." He blurted out sadly and she made a questioning sound in the back of her throat. "...you have to leave soon."

"Yeah. I know." She replied simply, her tone matching his.

"I want to ask you to stay, but I know that you can't." He sighed heavily. "So I won't ask."

She put her chin on her hand and stared into his dark eyes as she chewed her lip.

"Just promise me that you'll come back soon." She nodded with a smile and raised an eyebrow when his gaze turned mischievous. "And we definitely have to spend at least two days locked in my quarters on the ship."

Gasping from the implication, Lyanna couldn't help but lightly hit his chest and he simply laughed shamelessly.

"What? We will have lost time to make up for!" He kept laughing as she hit him a few more times, trying to shield himself lazily.

He grabbed a hold of her wrists and yanked her until she was practically on top of him and pulled her close to stop her from resisting. She squirmed but not enough to make it seem like she was really trying to get away, just playing along with him. They wrestled and laughed happily together until Ace had managed to pin Lyanna down and had a hold of both of her hands above her head. She wrapped her legs around his hips and began to squeeze, trying to make him uncomfortable, but his eyes went wide as their bodies collided in a way they hadn't before. His change in demeanour made her stop fighting back, and she relaxed as she appeared to be waiting for him to do something.

When she began chewing on her bottom lip, Ace almost lost it. He couldn't hold himself back any more and crashed his lips into her, trying to express everything he just didn't have the courage or eloquence to say. She made a soft muffled sound, but didn't push him away, so he enjoyed the moment while it lasted. After a minute, they desperately needed to catch their breath and he pulled away.

Ace was unsure of how exactly she was going to react to his actions, although her cheeks were flushed adorably, her eyes were blank. He hesitated and went to move away, but she tightened her grip around him and began to smile, her blush getting darker. She struggled to make eye contact with him, but he felt relieved immediately now that she hadn't outright rejected him. After a moment, she got some of her pluck back and pull him down to her, and he felt himself heat up in excitement. His body temperature was high enough, being fire and all, but he had to keep himself under control or he might end up burning the gorgeous woman beneath him.

His left forearm balanced his weight, as his right hand moved up the outside of her thigh, pushing up her dress along with it. He felt her hands fall away from his back, and he made a disappointed sound, enjoying how her nails had dug into his skin when he did something she liked. They came to fumble blindly with his belt, and once she got it loose, she pulled it completely away from him and it landed on the wooden floor with an unceremonious clunk.

Continuing its path upwards, his hand moved over her hipbone and along her side, and came to stop just before he reached her breast. He began to try and get her dress over her larger than average chest but failed horribly. She figured out what he wanted quickly and they sat up briefly and he practically ripped the black material off her. He wouldn't have been surprised if he had actually torn it in half on it's way over her head.

When they finally laid back down, Ace knew that they wouldn't stop this time. He certainly didn't want to and he got the impression that Lyanna didn't want to either. For a moment, he pulled back from her, and watched her breathing heavily with her cheeks flushed, and hair mussed. He brushed some of her dark hair off her face and smiled happily. This was the last thing he had expected when he had helped her stand the first time they met. Regardless of that fact, he was glad that they ended up here.

So, instead of spending time with their crewmates and friends, they spent most of their day wrapped up in each other...


	10. Pyre

**Chapter 10 - Pyre**

The Whitebeard Pirates had left the next morning after stocking up on any last minute supplies. The townspeople had been kind enough to provide them with a lot of them for free, though their Captain had insisted on giving them a small sum of money in return, simply so they weren't depleting their own supplies for nothing. Most of their stores on the ship were filled now, and it would last them for at least several weeks.

Once they had made way, Lyanna had gone below deck and made sure that she had packed all of her things together. It would only take until tomorrow morning for them to arrive at the next island where they were dropping her off. After that, her contact would take her onward for a time and she would make her own way from there. It was time for her to return back to reality.

Meanwhile, Ace pulled the knot as tightly as he could and he felt an arm over his shoulders. Marco gave him a smile, but his eyes seemed to give another message. Slowly, he led Ace to the front of the ship where they stood together in the breeze. Ace decided his best option was to stay very quiet in this scenario as he knew that Marco meant business. He could bet his life on what he wanted to discuss too.

"So...you and Lyanna." Marco's tone was calm, but stern. "Are you guys officially a thing now?"

"We...uh, haven't really talked about it, but she did say she would be back next year." Ace shrugged and watched Marco nod slowly, taking in the information.

"Fair enough." The First Division Commander had not changed his expression in the slightest and Ace tried to quash his nervousness. "Did you tell her how you feel?"

He shook his head with a frown. Although she probably knew by now that he liked her, he hadn't actually taken the time to tell her himself.

"I haven't. But I know I need to."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? You aren't going to see each other for a whole year."

Ace frowned deeper and looked at his friend and crewmate with widened eyes. Surely he wasn't telling him not to confess his feelings because he didn't want them to be together. He doubted that Marco was that petty and Lyanna would find out eventually and rage at him. She was rather frightening when she was angry and he wouldn't want to risk her wrath. Not only that, he knew that although Marco was basically interrogating him, that he didn't want to upset his friend. He understood that he just wanted to make sure that Lyanna was happy.

"I'm sure you aren't saying that because you don't want Lyanna to know." although he phrased it as a statement, the inflection he used at the end of his sentence suggested that he wanted confirmation.

"Of course not. I just don't want either of you moping around because you are sad about being separated." Marco retrieved his arm and crossed them over his chest.

"As hard as it will be, I understand. She can't stay because she owes the old man. I'll tell her that I will be here waiting for her and that's all." Ace crossed his arms as well, his brow knitted tightly together in a frown.

Marco just stared at him for a moment. "What if you meet someone else?"

"Yeah, cause I meet women like Lyanna all the time." he lolled his head to one side and smirked at his blond friend. Marco regarded him for another moment and huffed in satisfaction.

"What if she meets someone else?" Marco's tone was cautious, not wanting to worry Ace, but he knew that it was a realistic thing to consider.

"If she does, and she is happy, then...that's good for her. But I doubt she'll forget about me too quickly." he said with an arrogant smirk, but Marco saw right through his swagger.

"You mean, you hope she doesn't forget you." he replied with an eyebrow raised cynically and chuckled as his chin dropped to his chest and shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Yeah, basically." Ace looked back over to his friend and beamed at him. "She's pretty great."

When Marco began cracking up laughing, Ace stared at him silently in confusion for a moment.

"What? What's so funny?" he asked his friend, who was currently doubled over.

"You." he managed to splutter out and laughed for another solid 15 seconds before he finally began to catch his breath and continued. "You. I can't believe you are so ass over head for Lyanna. It's just," he put on a funny voice, "so cute!"

Ace groaned at him loudly before Marco ruffled his black hair, making him groan even louder. He only felt slightly embarrassed, but since he didn't really mind how obvious his infatuation with Lyanna was, it didn't worry him too much.

For another little while, they chatted about her, and how they had gotten so close and Marco told him a few stories from when he first met her as a kid, to when they ran into her being chased by people from her agency because she wanted to leave. Marco explained that Whitebeard had saved her life because she was barely able to survive since the information agency she had first worked with took such a large percentage of her income. When they had ran into each other, Whitebeard had recognised her immediately and told Marco to bring her aboard when he finally realised who she was.

They kept her safe on the Moby Dick while it was docked for three days until they figured out a way to stop them from harassing her. They ended up sending her into town to be used as bait, and when they captured her, the Whitebeard Pirates ambushed them and took them out. Whitebeard had ordered that one of them be kept alive and sent back to the agency to inform them that Lyanna was now working for him and they would incur his full wrath if they attempted to hurt or kill her again.

Lyanna had basically had her life saved not once, but twice by the Whitebeard Pirates, and Ace understood why she felt she had such a huge debt to the old man. If they had just helped her escape the agency, instead of basically employ her, they probably would have just kept hunting her down and eventually killed her. So in a roundabout way, they had saved her three times, ensuring that she wouldn't be hunted after the fact.

It made sense now why she was so determined to go back to her lonely life as a broker. She owed the old man her life several times over, and felt that there was no other way to repay her debt but do what she did best. Since she had started doing this three years ago, she was already a good liaison for the villages and islands that were under the protection of the Whitebeard Pirates and it would be hard for them to abruptly trust someone new.

While Marco and Ace chatted, Lyanna and the old man were chatting as they stood next to the mast. She was leaning against the large crate that the huge man had taken a seat on, but he was still much taller than her. At first, it was a normal conversation, talking about where she was heading off to first, but it momentarily went off-track when he began laughing at what seemed to be his own private joke.

"I hear you and Ace have been getting along well." he said in his deep voice, finally letting her in to get a glimpse of what he was thinking.

"Umm...you could say that." she raised a sculpted eyebrow at him when he laughed again, drawing attention from his crew.

"You aren't just toying with him, are you?" although he was still chuckling softly, she did hear a firm edge to his voice. She knew that if she said that he was, she would definitely be in trouble, but that wasn't the case.

"Of course not! He's…" she shrugged exaggeratedly, "nice."

The old man smiled like he was truly a father, happy to see his children growing up, making friends and falling in love. She held his gaze before she huffed and smiled delightedly. They shared a warm and pleasant laugh before he spoke again, voice serious once more.

"You could stay if you wanted to. You know that." he was quieter this time, but she knew that he wouldn't turn her away, regardless of how important her job was.

"Of course I know that, but you can't give me that choice. There is no one else who can do my job as well as I can. I owe you far too much to be so selfish." her expression sobered, and she stared at her feet and linked her hands together behind her back.

"...You wouldn't even stay for me?" he spoke as if he already knew the answer.

"No, not even for you. You're the reason that I'm still alive, and I do my job to repay your kindness. Besides, I know that you would take me in just because you want me to be happy, and as much as I appreciate it, I can't allow myself that."

"Not even for Marco?"

She made a 'tch' sound and shook her head. "Marco is fine without me."

"But what about Ace?"

"Ace?" she replied flatly.

"Yes."

"Not even for Ace. As I said my job is the reason that I'm alive as well as you. I cannot give up everything that I've worked for just to indulge temptations. I want to help you protect the huge family have created for yourself, especially because I am a part of it." she sighed sadly, "Don't give me the choice to stay. It's hard enough already to walk away from this ship every year." she rubbed the bridge of her nose with her thumb and pointer finger, scowling at her emotional weakness.

"He's really taken a shine to you."

"And that makes this all the more difficult. But nonetheless, he will be fine. He's strong, and he has all of you."

"You won't even stay for yourself so that you're happy." he narrowed his eyes at her, and his voice was one a father would use to scold his child.

"No. I am the lowest priority. Although my job is a quiet and lonely one, I still enjoy being useful to you. I know that I'm needed and valued and that's enough for me. Besides, I'll see you in next year and we will be in contact too." she shrugged with both her shoulders and raised her arms too.

"Well...if you're sure." he waited for her to nod then continued. "We will have to hold a feast for you tonight."

"Of course you will. You know how much I like a good send off."

They shared a grin and another laugh, and kept talking about their massive family for the next few hours until they started their farewell party for her. It was a great night, with plenty of food, drink and music and everyone enjoyed themselves immensely, even though they would be saying goodbye to one of their friends tomorrow. Until next year, at least.

Lyanna ensured that she spent plenty of time with the newer crew members, as well as all the Commanders, whom she loved dearly. Though she just wanted to go and see Ace, she had a feeling that she would see him in his quarters later and they would have their own goodbye. Now was the time to spend her last few minutes having fun with her old friends. She spent the last hour or so just sitting in quiet conversation with Marco, and everyone gave them some space.

She had always had a strong bond with Marco, since he did save her life twice. They always got along well and had been fast friends, even when her parents had been killed and she was distraught. He had been so kind to her and had done everything he could possibly do to look after her. She had stayed in his quarters for the few days it took for them to reach the island with her relatives, and he had made sure that it was clean and tidy, and always had everything she needed. Whether it was water, food, someone to make her laugh or just a shoulder to cry on.

Ace caught her eye as he was heading below deck and they shared a smile. Marco noticed immediately and began to relentlessly tease her about having feelings for the Second Division Commander. He put on his best girly voice and pretended that he was Lyanna.

"Oh, Ace. You're just so cute! Kiss me, my love!" he was doing a terrible job of sounding like a girl, but it still made her laugh.

"You're a shit girl, Marco. I hope that not how you talk to girls. No wonder you are still single." she teased right back, giving as good as she got.

"Ah, that's not for you to worry about." he smiled at her in his typical big-brother way. "Go on. He's waiting for you."

She held his gaze for a moment before she hugged him tightly. He returned the embrace and laughed softly at her sudden display of affection. He ruffled her hair when they released each other and she rolled her eyes as she strolled away.

Once she got downstairs, she stopped outside of Ace's door and froze in nervousness. What was she supposed to say or do? Though she wasn't exactly inexperienced, she certainly hadn't been in a situation like this before. Her experience had been with one of her contacts who was a gorgeous young man who couldn't keep his hands off her, but it was completely physical. The only other time was a one night stand, in which she ditched in the morning or she was going to miss her ride to the next island. This was different though. She actually _liked_ Ace, and she was fairly certain that he liked her too.

The door swung open, and she flinched violently, forced to break her reverie. She stared at him with wide eyes for a moment, before he pursed his lips in an attempt to stop himself from laughing. When her expression changed to a curious one, he answered her silent question.

"I heard you pacing."

She made a soft 'Ah' sound in understanding, and walked in after he stepped back, gesturing for her to come in. The first thing that she noticed was how flawlessly tidy his room was. Marco's was always such a mess that it took her by surprise.

"You're very tidy." she blurted out without thinking about how lame it was to comment on the state of the man's room when that was clearly not what she was there for.

He snorted to repress his laughter from behind her. "Thank you." he said with exaggerated enthusiasm and snorted again when she turned to glare at him.

Before she could snap at him for being a pain in the ass, he pulled her into his arms, and she sighed softly at how warm he was. He held her tightly for at least two minutes before he loosened his grip, but only enough so that he could press his lips to her own delicately. It didn't take long for the intensity to increase, and hands began roaming over every inch of skin they could reach.

Gradually, she led him over to his bed where they collapsed with limbs tangled together, where they stayed for entire night...

###

The next morning, Lyanna woke up after Ace was getting dressed for the day. She sat up quietly and watched him for the minute that it took him to put his pants on and smiled cheekily when he noticed her. She got up and dressed as well, and they headed above deck where they received many cheers from the crew, making Lyanna want to be invisible. Ace didn't care and just put his hands on his hips and laughed loudly until she punched his arm. His cheery expression made her laugh and she gave up on being cranky at him.

Lyanna wondered over the next few hours if everyone else was feeling anxious about her leaving them today, or if it was just her. Occasionally she would catch someone's eye and they would give her a smile or make a silly face and she tried her best to keep up, but she was struggling. It was always difficult, but the game had certainly changed this time with Ace and she presumed if things were still the same next year, it would only be more difficult.

Finally, they arrived on the large island where they would be dropping her off. A few of the newer crew members went to grab a few necessities that they were low on after last nights feast and farewell party while she said goodbye to her friends. The Commanders had lined up to wish her their best, and she would exchange a joke, give them a hug before she moved on. Jozu hoisted her off the ground and spun around, and put her back down when she was thoroughly dizzy and almost fell on Marco, who caught her flawlessly. She didn't need words with the blond, who would always her best friend, and just hugged him as tightly as she could. He ruffled her hair, like he had done since she was a kid and she smiled.

The old man was seated on a crate so that he was somewhat smaller, although she practically climbed up his leg to hug him. She wrapped her arms around as much of his neck as she could and he placed a huge hand on her back. He wished her well and told her to come back whenever she could, and to keep in contact. She nodded and told him that she would miss him before she hopped down.

Conveniently, Ace was standing next to the crate that his Captain was sitting on and was the last goodbye. It was a little awkward, but they hugged for as long as they could without it being weird for everyone else around. She pulled back first and gave him the brightest smile she could. He frowned for a moment and took a breath, before he smiled back, but he just wasn't as good as hiding his emotions as she was.

Turning away took a lot of the strength, but she finally did and picked up her pack before she walked down to the dock and gave her friends a wave before she started to stroll away.

Back on deck, Marco stormed over to Ace and smacked him upside the head with an open hand.

"What the fuck was that?" he hissed at him.

"What do you mean?" Ace replied as he shrunk back a little, unsure why he was in trouble.

"Is that how you say goodbye to the woman you love?" Marco stated blankly, as if it was bleedingly obvious and threw his hands up in dismay. "You're hopeless, mate."

Ace chewed the inside of his cheek in uncertainty, and glanced at Lyanna's back with a frown on his face.

Marco was right.

He dramatically leapt off the side of the ship and landed with a heavy thud on the dock and ran after her. She hadn't gotten far, but he called out to her in urgency to stop her from getting further away. This would be the last time he would see her for an entire year, and he should have thrown caution to the wind and give her a goodbye that would make sure she would be ready to come back to him when they saw each other next.

Just as she turned toward him, he took a hold of her and held her tightly. When he loosened his grip, he kept one hand on the small of her back, and brought the other up to tangle his fingers in her hair. He pressed his lips to hers with the same passion that had surprised her the night before and she smiled into their kiss.

When they finally separated, they leant their foreheads together and caught their breath.

"Lyanna...I…" he fumbled for the right words but she stopped him.

"It's okay. I know." she leant back to look at him fully and smiled.

"I'll miss you." he rubbed his thumb over her cheek and watched them flush with red at his admission.

"I'll miss you too." she beamed at him happily and he grinned just as brightly back at her.

As best he could, he committed her beautiful face to his memory, trying to burn it in there permanently before he finally kissed her cheek and let her go. He could see that she was finding it difficult to walk away, but steeled herself with a quick breath and began power-walking in the direction of the town.

For a minute, until she disappeared into the crowd of people, he watched her leave, and hoped dearly that it wasn't the last time he would see her…

###

Hours later, Lyanna had met with her contact and was now sitting alone in a room at the local inn. She desperately needed to bathe and have something to eat so she had grabbed some food on the way from her meeting and was finishing it off. When she was done, she leant back in her chair with a sigh.

After her quiet moment, she got up and rummaged through her pack for some clean clothes when she found a whole bunch of random stuff that wasn't in there before. There was money, snacks, and a small parcel. She smiled and shook her head, knowing that someone would have snuck these in before she left the Moby Dick today.

Sitting down on the bed, she putting the wrapping off the small parcel and it revealed a red and white striped bracelet. She had seen a similar one around before, but couldn't remember who wore it.

While she tried to jog her memory, she got up and went into the bathroom to bathe. After she had sat down and was soaking in the hot water, she recalled seeing the bracelet on Ace's wrist. Her jaw dropped and her eyes began to well up, despite her telling them not too.

She stayed in the bath, crying until long after the water had gone cold…


End file.
